New Ferrari 12 Cilindri Manuale brings back the manual gearbox (kind of)
Ferrari goes analogue with a new three-pedal version of the 12 Cilindri. And you don't need to buy a Luce for a chance of owning one...
This is not the knee-jerk reaction you think it is. The reaction to the Luce was vitriolic but the new Ferrari 12 Cilindri Manuale is not a response to those commentators who are still putting their veins back in their necks. This new addition to the V12 line-up has been two-years in development with deliveries of the first 1499 units set to start before the end of 2026.
Before your hopes are elevated too highly Ferrari has not designed and developed an entirely new manual transmission, rather it has taken its eight-speed DCT gearbox and developed a manual shift for it. There’s no mechanical connection between the shift and the gearbox, the former is still managed by the transmission’s electronics, but the lever and the mechanism along with the clutch pedal are all mechanical elements.
“Our customers, when we asked them what their wish would be for their next Ferrari, said they wanted a manual gearbox,” explained Enrico Galliera. “And when I took this request back to the engineers they said it was not possible.” In 2025 Galliera went on record to say that if someone wanted a Ferrari with a manual gearbox they were too late, and that they could buy a classic Ferrari. Clearly he wasn’t aware that his engineers had already been working on a solution for 12 months…
Machined from a piece of steel – the same material the gearbox’s ratios are machined from – the fulcrum of the shift mechanism forms the basis for the gearlever to be secured to and everything else required to be built up around it. The machined shift lever’s movement, itself supported by a plastic composite cradle, is managed by a single spring with two roller bearings that control the for and aft and left and right movements. The resulting action is, Ferrari claims, as close to the manual shift action from the last manual V12 Ferrari, the 599 GTB, as it is possible to get to.
While the shift accuracy and movement around the gate is seamless – when operated on a display bench and not connected to a gearbox under any load at least – those once troublesome movements across the gate from second to third, and third to fifth for example, have been smoothed away. There is also no fear of a reluctant gearbox unwilling to engage gear first thing in the morning because the oil is too cold, since the shifts are still 100 percent controlled by the DCT’s clutch packs and electronics. Essentially the gear lever has replaced the paddles (which have been removed) and the driver’s actions now dictate which gear is required if you have selected manual mode. If you leave it in auto it behaves just like the 12 Cilindri’s DCT.
You can start in either auto or manual, and once the latter has been selected by depressing the clutch the driver has full control of six forward gears plus reverse; if you stick with auto you get the full eight forward gears and the manual’s half dozen ratios are identical to those of the DCT. The clutch’s biting point is 50 percent of the pedal’s 110mm of travel and requires between 10 to 15kg of pressure to activate. If you’re clumsy you can stall it or bunny hop down the road like a learner. While shift speeds are far quicker in auto mode Ferrari claims the performance of the car is identical regardless of whether you chose to leave the car in auto or take control of the shifts yourself. There is no flat-shift option and you need to do all the heel and toeing yourself as there’s no throttle blip function, either.
Despite there being no physical connection between the manual shift and the gearbox the transmission still behaves like a regular manual and therefore requires the same level of tactile and mechanical sympathy. You can, for example, be driving in auto mode and decide the road ahead requires some manual shift interaction, so you dip the clutch to engage manual shift – the instrument pack colour switches to orange and the H-pattern layout on top of the gear knob illuminates the same – but you still need to select the right gear. Therefore, it won’t allow for too low a gear for the engine and road speed to be selected, and any such request is prevented by a ‘block’ in the mechanism that requires you to first slot the lever into the required gate. Should it be too low the electronics tell the block to prevent the lever from moving any further in the gate. A warning also appears on the instrument display. Think of it as a two-motion action when slotting gear: the first to tell the car what you’re suggesting, the second once it’s happy for you to carry on. For the ultimate ‘I drive stick’ look, you can be in auto mode and leave the gear selector in any of the forward gears.
In total the components required to create the manual shift add up to the 3.5kg, however the cost of having the choice to select your gears manually in a 12 Cilindri is €190,000. That’s not the price of the car, but the premium Ferrari is charging for the 12 Cilindri Manuale over a regular coupe. It won’t be offered on the 12 Cilindri Spider and each example is classified a Tailor Made Ferrari with bespoke colours and trims.
There are as many questions such a system leaves unanswered as it does answer. Why, for example, not develop a new six-speed manual transmission? Ferrari’s response is that such a unit wouldn’t be able to manage the V12’s 819bhp and 500lb ft of torque. Why the 12 Cilindri? It is, according to those at Maranello, the perfect Ferrari for such a piece of technology as it combines the comfort and performance required of such a car. Who is the expected buyer? Existing owners of V12 Ferrari’s apparently and it has not been designed to replace anything, rather it’s a complement to the line-up. And no, according to Galliari, you won’t be forced to buy a Luce if you want Ferrari’s only car offered with a manual gearbox: “We will not be asking clients to buy a Luce if they want to buy any of our special cars” he confirmed.
Some will scoff at Ferrari’s fanfare of bringing back a manual gearbox and point to the lack of mechanical connection between the shift and the gearbox. But the bigger picture is surely that the company is looking at what it can do with the hardware it has to hand to create more bespoke, purer models. A 296 Challenge road car without the hybrid system, anyone?
